Nico Medina’s world is eleven miles away from mine. During the day, it’s a place where doors are open—where homes are lived in, and neighbors love. But when the sun sets, it becomes a place where young boys are afraid, where eyes watch from idling cars that hide in the shadows and wicked smoke flows from pipes.

West End is the kind of place that people survive. It buries them—one at a time, one way or another. And when Nico was a little boy, his mom always told him to run.

I’m Reagan Prescott—coach’s daughter, sister to the prodigal son, daughter in the perfect family.
Life on top.
Lies.
My world is the ugly one. Private school politics and one of the best high school football programs in the country can break even the toughest souls. Our darkness plays out in whispers and rumors, and money and status trump all. I would know—I’ve watched it kill my family slowly, strangling us for years.

In our twisted world, a boy from West End is the only shining light.
Quarterback.
Hero.
Heart.
Good.
I hated him before I needed him.
I fell for him fast.
I loved him when it was almost too late.

When two ugly worlds collide, even the strongest fall. But my world…it hasn’t met the boy from West End.

Review by Kelly

I love Ginger Scott’s books. I will read it just because she wrote it! And now that I’ve told you that, I have to confess I don’t know football well. But I still wanted to read it. I didn’t get what was happening sometimes but the emotion was well written that it didn’t matter. Her stories always make you think and feel. I cried while reading it. But, I did find out what a hard count was! Yeah, I didn’t know what it was!

I always want the underdog to win, ALWAYS! And this one had more than one in it! At the acknowledgments, she writes that this book is a little more personal to her. There is always some injustice going on somewhere and I want someone who deserves it to come out on top. There is a hard road here and not everyone comes out on top but they end up better off by being who they are. I love that about her books. I learn something every time I read a book of Ginger Scott’s! Ok, I will stop my girl fanning now.

When your dad is the coach of the football team in a private school, you can’t get away with much. Twins, Noah and Reagan, know that. Noah is the quarterback and has been slacking. Reagan is the smart one working on a film of her family and the backside of what it’s like to have her coach as a dad and what his job does to a family for her entrance into the Art College she wants to get into. Their mom is a socialite but is struggling since they lost the season last year. The committees are hitting their family hard to put someone else in place of them. Their mom takes pills and drinks wine. Their dad puts in way too much overtime. Noah then breaks his leg effectively making it impossible to have scouts look at him for big colleges.

So when Reagan sees Nico Medina play football through her camera lens one day, she shows it to her dad. He’s really good and she wants her dad to give him a shot. The problem – he’s from the wrong side of town, a “scholarship” kid. People can be prejudice and the committee wants an alumni kid in the spot.

Then the next thing you know, people are making mean statements, some people learn, some don’t, some are humbled, and some don’t take changes well. Then the clock ticks for scouts, for Noah, for Reagan’s father the “coach”, and for Nico to show he can make a difference. What I really enjoyed was not only did he make a difference for the team playing football but he made an impact on doing what’s right and people will look up to that if you can be a leader and be fair. But this book is a sitting on the edge read to find out how it all will play out and who will end up friends or enemies and how will you come out in the end. I found myself biting my nails like Reagan did on the edge of my seat.
The romance is slow to simmer, which is great in this story I liked watching Nico and Reagan become a couple. It wasn’t easy. I liked Reagan’s boldness too.

If you like football, high school, high school football coach families, stories of prejudice, stories of overcoming your pride, doing what’s right, gangs, military, parents involved in school activities, and falling in love than this is it! I will be reading this again and again!

Ginger Scott is an Amazon-bestselling author of nine young and new adult
romances, including Waiting on the Sidelines, Going Long, Blindness, How
We Deal With Gravity, This Is Falling, You and Everything After, Wild
Reckless, The Girl I Was Before, and Wicked Restless.

A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. (She’s also a sucker for a hot quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work,
visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.

When she's not writing, the odds are high that she's somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork 'em, Devils).

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In accordance with FTC guidelines/regulations for bloggers and endorsements, please note that all the books reviewed on this blog were either purchased by me or provided to me by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest, unbiased review and nothing else. I gain nothing in return for the review other than the book itself. My reviews reflect my honest opinion and remain uninfluenced despite the source(s) through which I obtained the book(s) . I would also like to disclose that this blog is signed up with The Book Depository and Amazon Affiliate Program. I will earn a small percentage of any purchase made through this blog on their sites.